Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Today the much awaited Made In India tablet was launched.Its named as Aakash (meaning Sky in Hindi). Its mainly meant for Students and will be available at subsidised rate while for masses its cost is ~$60

The Aakash has been developed by UK-based company DataWind and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Rajasthan)

It was about an year ago the prototype was shown to the public and its cost was estimated at $35.

"Has the device lived up to the $35 price tag?" Technically, it hasn't. The HRD ministry has informed us that the manufacturing cost of the device is $37.98. The sales price of the device however is $49.98 after adding the transportation cost, warranty and other costs. The manufacturer will be able to deliver 1,00,000 units of the device to consumers at $49.98 that is approximately Rs. 2276. So the $35 claim does not hold true in real terms. “

“So, if $37.98 is the cost of the device, what will the institutes have to pay? How much is the government going to subsidize the device? The answer is 50%. An institute that wishes to make this tablet available to its student will pay Rs. 1500 or less, the ministry has informed us.”

GPRS receiver and a SIM card slot will be provided in the lot beyond 10000 units.

When asked about this viable business opportunity -

CEO of Datawind, Suneet Singh Tuli said, it is profitable .“In fact, it is so profitable that he has decided to throw in a GPRS receiver and a SIM card slot into the device without any extra charge to the government. He will still maintain the price point of $37.98. These add-ons are not in the first lot of 10,000 units as they have already been delivered to the Ministry. But the rest of the 90,000 units will have these add ons.”